Timer
by sunshineoptimismandangels
Summary: Everyone has a countdown on their wrist telling them when they'll meet their soulmate. Kurt's timer tells him that he is one of the lucky ones who gets to meet his soulmate young. Until one day his timer stops, and starts again and stops. Something is wrong with his soulmate, will Kurt lose him before they even have the chance to meet? Writen for a GKM prompt.
1. Chapter 1

**Written**** for a GKM prompt. **

* * *

It was such a little thing, small and unobtrusive, but it held so much weight and importance. Kurt remembers when his mom first told him what it was for. He had been so young he hardly understood.

"Everyone has someone in the world that they are supposed to love." His mom had explained. "Someone who will love you back no matter what."

"The way you love me?" Kurt had asked, fingers brushing against the timer implanted into his wrist.

"I will always love you no matter what, but this." She said tapping the timer with a finger. "This is someone who will love you the way I love your daddy and he loves me. This number right here?" She said and Kurt stuck out the tip of his tongue as he watched the number tick. "It gets littler and littler until it goes away, and that's when you meet..."

"Your soulmate." Kurt finished feeling proud that he knew the answer.

"That's right." His mommy smiled. "The person you are made to be with." He had been five when his mom explained, and he knew then that it was important.

Sometimes he would lay in bed at night, not able to sleep and he would sing songs to his timer. The kind of songs his mommy sang him to help him fall asleep.

Some of the kids at school said that it was silly to talk or sing to your timer. Your soulmate couldn't hear you, but that never stopped Kurt. He didn't know if his soulmate could hear him or not, but he knew his soulmate could feel him. He knew it before anyone even told him that part of things.

* * *

"I don't feel good." A seven-year-old Kurt said one morning as his parents made breakfast.

"What's wrong bud?" His dad asked.

"I don't know." Kurt whined. "I feel sick."

His dad came over and placed a hand on his head. "You don't feel warm." He said.

"Yes I do!" Kurt protested, "I feel hot all over and my throat hurts and my tummy aches."

They took him to the doctor who said that Kurt was fine, not sick at all. Kurt was upset; did the doctor think he was lying?

"But I _do_ feel sick." Kurt said near tears.

"Oh sweetie." He mom cooed and pulled him into her arms. "We believe you, the doctor is just saying you don't have a virus or anything... Your soulmate might be sick and so you don't feel good either."

"My... my soulmate?" Kurt asked.

"Sometimes when your soulmate feels something really strongly you can feel it to." His dad said.

"Is my soulmate going to be okay?" Kurt asked wide-eyed and a little scared. He didn't want his soulmate to not feel good.

"I'm sure they'll be fine." His mom answered with a smile. "Their parents are probably taking them to the doctor too."

Kurt's mom never called his soulmate "him" or "her".

Sometimes his dad would slip and say something to indicate his soulmate would be a girl, but he mostly kept with the more neutral terms as well. Kurt knew that the other kids in his class all assumed that Kurt's soulmate would be a girl.

"You're _a boy_." One of his classmates had explained. "So your soulmate will be a girl. Silly."

But Kurt wasn't sure, and his parents didn't seem to be either. But he wasn't worried about it. Whoever they were, they would love him no matter what.

* * *

It wasn't until Kurt was eight-years-old that he learned something else about your soulmate timer. It could stop, _before_ you met your soulmate.

His mom and dad both had blank timers on their wrist. Kurt knew they had counted down until the moment his mommy and dad had met. But when his mom passed away he would lay in bed at night, crying and holding onto his wrist with all of his strength.

Nothing seemed definite anymore. Nothing certain. He had always known that he would meet his soulmate someday, just like he knew that his mom and dad would always be there for him. But now his mom was gone.

He climbed into bed with his dad one night and felt his strong arms wrap around his little frame. "I miss mommy." He said through tears, and could feel his dad's body tense.

After a long moment his dad spoke, tears in his own voice, "I miss her too."

"I don't want to lose anyone else. Not you or... or my soulmate or anyone." Kurt hadn't met his soulmate yet, according to his timer he still had around 3000 days left, but he felt like his soulmate was a part of him and the fear of losing someone else was too much. "People don't ever lose their soulmates before they even meet them do they?"

His dad let out a soft sigh and then answered, "Yes, sometimes."

Kurt scooted back and looked his dad in the face. He looked tired and sad.

"No. But the timer!"

"Sometimes bad things happen and they can make your timer go blank before you met your soulmate, when that happens it means... it means they died."

"_No_." Kurt repeated and started to cry.

His dad pulled him close, his big hand rubbing back and forth across his back. "Hey buddy, don't worry. Your soulmate is fine, you're going to met them. It's okay."

"I... I don't want to lose anyone else."

"You won't" His dad said with so much determination that Kurt had to believe him.

* * *

Kurt came out to his dad when he was 13. It was an accident. They were on the couch watching _High School Musical_ when Kurt let it slip by mistake.

"I wonder if my soulmate likes musicals." Kurt said as he ran a finger over his timer. "I hope he does." Then he froze. "I mean... I mean they. My soulmate. Her... or whatever..."

He looked up at his dad with his heart in his throat. His dad just chuckled.

"I'm sure if he doesn't like musicals you can change his mind." His dad had said, and that was that. From that day on they both said "him" instead of "them".

Having a soulmate that was your same gender wasn't unheard of, but it was still looked down on by some of the more conservative areas. Lima, Ohio being among them. But Kurt held his head high, even though the teasing grew as he did.

People made fun of him for being gay, told him that his soulmate wasn't a real soulmate if it was another boy, that his timer was just counting down to an abomination. The words hurt, but Kurt didn't let them get him down.

Somewhere out there was a boy who was going to love Kurt unconditionally, a boy who was made to love Kurt. He would rub his thumb over his timer or hold it close to his heart and ignore the hateful things people said. They didn't matter anyway.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: TW for violence. Leave a comment, I'd love to hear your thoughts. :)**

* * *

In High School things got harder for Kurt.

The bulling had gotten worse. Lima wasn't big and once Kurt started at McKinley High everyone already knew he was gay. Even if he hadn't been out already, he felt they would have known just by looking at him. He wasn't someone made to blend in.

The jocks seemed to target him specifically, calling him names, shoving him into lockers and throwing ice cold slushies in his face whenever they got the chance.

Kurt hated it. It was painful, both physically and emotionally. But he kept strong; he wasn't going to let anyone get him down. Especially when he had less than 750 days left until he met his soulmate!

* * *

In his Sophomore year things got a little better. Kurt saw the sign-up for Glee club and knew he wanted to join.

Singing always made him feel better and more connected. Being in a group of people who loved music as much as he did had to be a good thing.

New Directions ended up being a roller-coaster of drama and song, but it was good. Kurt loved it, he finally had friends. The bullying didn't stop, but Kurt was better equipped to deal with it now.

"Hey freak!" Kurt turned his head from his locker to see one of the big football players standing behind him.

"What do you want Azimo?" Kurt asked with a sigh. He didn't have a slushie in his hand, so that was good.

"I was talking to the boys and guess what we figured out?"

Kurt sighed before he straightened his back and looked his tormentor in the eyes. "Oh please, enlighten me." He said sarcastically.

"We figured out your timer must be a fake. No way _you_ have a soulmate. For one, someone gay can't have a real soulmate. And B..." He said, leaning in close as he pushed Kurt up against the locker.

Kurt winced in pain.

"Who could possibly love you?" Azimo finished.

Kurt sucked in a breath as Azimo grabbed his wrist. "I bet this just peels right off doesn't it?" He laughed as he started scrapping his fingers against Kurt's timer, the numbers reading 361.

"Stop!" Kurt shouted, fear coursing through him. Not his timer. They could say and do what they wanted to Kurt, but they couldn't take that.

"STOP!" Kurt yelled again as Azimo kept his wrist locked in a stony grip.

"Hey, what's going on here?" Azimo and Kurt looked to see Mercedes and Tina standing nearby.

"L-leave him a-a-alone!" Tina stuttered, her face flushing in anger.

Mercedes walked up and poked a finger at Azimo's chest. "We aren't going to have a problem here, are we?"

Azimo rolled his eyes and then raised his hands in surrender. "Whatever." He said and started to back away. He turned and looked back at Kurt. "If it _is_ real, can you imagine how disappointed your soulmate is going to be when they met _you_?"

Kurt held his wrist tight against his chest, hugging it with his other arm. His heart was pounding and his eyes were filling with tears, but he wouldn't cry, he wouldn't let Azimo win.

"Oh K-kurt!" Tina said.

"I'm fine." Kurt answered. "Nothing he says matters, nothing anyone says changes the fact that my soulmate is waiting for me. That I get to met him in just under a year from now."

Mercedes smiled. "That's my boy! Never let them get you down, they aren't worth it."

Kurt smiled weakly and followed the girls to lunch.

For the rest of the week though, Kurt carried his wrist carefully, glancing at it often and brushing his fingers against his timer protectively. He was already so in love with his soulmate who he hadn't even met, and his timer was their only connection.

In bed at night he'd whisper to his timer, "I hope you're okay. That people don't bully you like this. I can't wait to meet you." He pressed warm lips against his timer, even though he knew it was silly. He would even sing sometimes like he did as a child.

A little under a year, that's all he had left. The time couldn't move fast enough.

* * *

Kurt was 16 when his world came crashing down around him for the second time. Losing his mother when he was just a child had shaken him to his very core and changed the person he'd become. You'd think that fate had dealt him enough blows, but it seemed that wasn't the case.

It had been a few weeks since Azimo had tried to rip his timer out of his wrist and Kurt was still very protective of it.

He was sitting on the couch with his dad, a football game playing in the background. Kurt wasn't paying much attention to the game, instead he was flipping through a magazine and enjoying the quite evening in. Every once in a while unconsciously rubbing a thumb over his timer.

Kurt's heart started pounding in his chest, beating so fast it hurt and thudded in his ears like a drum. He sat up letting the magazine fall to the floor, his breathing increasing as panic started to over take him.

He clutched a hand to his chest and tried to count his breaths. Was he having a heart attack? Is this what a heart attack felt like? Then he felt a sharp pain in his shoulder, like it had been slammed against something hard. He let out a cry of distress as he stood from the couch only to fall to his knees on the floor.

"Kurt!" His dad shouted getting up to kneel beside him. "What's wrong, are you okay?"

Kurt tried to catch his breath and answer, but instead he doubled over as he felt a punch to his gut.

"Oh god!" Kurt managed to cry out before he fell to his side, his whole body assaulted with pain and fear.

"Kurt!" His dad sounded frantic and he could feel his father's hands hovering over him, trying to discern what was wrong.

Kurt kept crying out as pain blossomed out through his abdomen and his shoulder, across his cheek... He curled up in a ball on the floor sobbing and shouting as the assault continued.

"D-dad!" He called in fear, he didn't understand what was happening to him. This wasn't a heart attack, is felt like he was getting the shit beat out of him.

_Oh god._

Finally it clicked. Kurt was safe. He was at home with his dad and no one was here to hurt him. So if Kurt was safe that meant his soulmate...

"No! No!" Kurt shouted, still protectively curled up as the painful sensations continued. "Leave him alone! Please. _Please_. L-leave him a-alone!"

Tears streamed down Kurt's face as his dad gathered him up in his arms. He held him tightly and Kurt could hear his dad's breath hitch, he was crying too.

Burt must have come to the same realization Kurt had because he started rocking him back and forth repeating, "He'll be okay. It will be okay. He'll be okay."

It didn't feel like he'd be okay though. It felt like his soulmate was having his bones broken and his skin bruised. Kurt could almost taste blood in his mouth.

It felt like it would never end. But finally it did. Kurt's body still drummed with pain, but it was fading now. Whatever had happened to his soulmate must be ending. Kurt stayed tucked against his father's chest, crying and shivering.

"I... I need to find him." Kurt finally said. "What if he is alone, or needs help. What if... what if he needs me?" Kurt asked, his voice cracking with emotion. "I have to find him."

"Kurt." Burt said wiping tears from his son's eyes. "It doesn't work that way you still have..." Burt gently lifted Kurt's wrist and looked down to see how many days were left. But then he froze his face turning sheet white and his grip on Kurt's wrist tightening.

"What?" Kurt said, pounding heart still in his throat. "What's wrong?" Kurt glanced down to his wrist expecting to see the number 340 on his timer. Kurt's heart skidded in his chest and suddenly he felt light headed as pure, vein chilling fear filled him.

Kurt blinked; knowing there had to be some mistake.

His timer read 000.


	3. Chapter 3

The 000 stared Kurt in the face.

He sprang to his feet and stumbled backwards a little, clutching at his wrist as the numbers glared back at him. The zeros only stayed for a moment before the timer faded to black.

"No!" Kurt yelled, crazed with worry and fear. "NO!" He griped his wrist so tight he could feel his pulse beating too fast under his skin.

"Kurt." His dad said, also rising to his feet. Kurt glanced up for a second to see his dad's drawn face and red rimmed eyes.

"No!" Kurt repeated shaking his head. He looked back down at his blank timer. "Come back! Come back!" Tears clogged his throat and made it hard to breath.

Frenzy built up inside of Kurt and he knew he was shaking, he felt like he might just shake apart into a million pieces.

Then, his timer lit up again, 000 for a moment until the beautiful number 340 reappeared.

"Oh my god." Kurt covered his mouth with his hand as a sob escaped his lips. He couldn't tear his eyes away from his timer and the number that meant his soulmate was still alive, the number that meant Kurt would survive.

His euphoria lasted only a moment though.

The numbers flickered and then the whole thing went black again.

Kurt's knees gave out under him and only his dad's sure arms reaching out to steady him allowed him to slump down on the couch.

"Stop it!" Kurt yelled at his timer. He didn't understand what's happening. He looked up at his dad with tear blurred eyes.

"Kurt..." His dad started, looking down at the timer.

"What's happening!?" Kurt shouted angrily. He wasn't mad at his dad, not really. He was just terrified.

"I don't know son..." Burt stopped as Kurt's timer flickered again and then the number 340 blinked back on.

Kurt tensed; afraid the timer would go out again. He brushed the numbers with his thumb. "Stay with me." He whispered.

"His heart must be..." Burt met Kurt's eyes and cleared his throat. "His heart must be starting and stopping."

"No." Kurt said shaking his head almost violently. "What do we do?"

Burt sighed. "I don't know. We just have to wait."

Kurt bit his lip and looked at his wrist. The numbers start to flicker. "Don't. Don't do that!" Kurt begged, his body shaking and his heart clenching, but he couldn't make it stop, the timer went blank again.

Kurt sat on the couch silently, barely even blinking, holding his breath. The timer stayed dark. Kurt started holding his wrist so tight that his nails dug into his skin. How much time has passed since the timer went blank this time? Seconds? Minutes? Should Kurt have been counting?

"Don't you _dare_!" Kurt yelled suddenly at the blank screen, his icy blood thawing out as anger started to flow among the fear. "You can't do this. You can't leave me. Don't you dare!"

"Son." Burt's hands wrapped around Kurt's grip, loosening his fingers a little before Kurt could do anymore damage to his skin. "I'm so sorry." He dad's voice broke and something inside of Kurt snapped.

"NO!" He stood up and backed away from his dad continuing to move away until his back was pressed up against the wall of the living room. "No Dad! No!"

His dad was openly crying now, he hadn't seen him this way since his mom's funeral.

His dad had given up. He thought Kurt's soulmate was dead.

Kurt looked back down at the blank timer closing his eyes and breathing. _I need you_. He thought and then opened his eyes and said it out loud, talking to his timer as if it was his soulmate right there with him.

"I _need_ you. Come back. Please come back."

The timer flickered but stayed blank.

"We get to meet soon. So soon. I've been waiting my whole life for you. Please, don't give up. Please."

It flickered again, but still no numbers.

"You listen to me!" Kurt choked out, voice determined even though it was scratchy with tears. "You are not going to die! You are not allowed to leave me. I need you and you need me!"

The timer flickered and Kurt brought his lips down to his wrist planting a gentle kiss on the timer. "I love you." Kurt said softly though his tears. "Come back to me."

The timer flickered and the numbers 000 stared Kurt in the face for a moment and Kurt couldn't breathe. Then the 340 finally, _finally_ reappeared. Kurt slumped against the wall in relief, his limbs shaking. He sat huddled on floor breathing raggedly.

"Stay with me. Stay with me." Kurt couldn't stop looking at the timer on his wrist.

At some point Burt wrapped an arm around his shoulders and brought him back to the couch. Kurt sat next to his dad, tucked into his side, his eyes still on his timer. The number still read 340.

Burt had turned the TV off at some point and they sat in silence. Burt watched his son. Kurt watched his timer.

"Stay with me. Stay with me. Stay with me." Kurt kept repeating like a chant or a prayer. Like his words alone would keep his soulmate alive. Kurt didn't know how long they sat like that together but eventually the 340 counted down to 339.

Kurt didn't mean too, but eventually his eyes started to flutter close. He leaned his head against his dad's shoulder, bringing his wrist up to his chest cradling it over his heart. The exhaustion from all the fear, pain and panic of the evening taking their toll.

"Stay with me." Kurt whispered one more time before he drifted to sleep.

Kurt woke up slowly. Body heavy and mind fuzzy. He was on the couch, a thick blanket thrown over him. He could smell coffee and fried eggs in the air and he yawned as he started to sit up.

The events of the previous night hit him like a freight train. He let out a yelp and looked down at his wrist.

339

He still had 339 days until he meets his soulmate. His soulmate who was alive and well.

Kurt shuttered thinking about the pain he went through last night and the stopping and starting timer. His soulmate may not be well after all, but he was at least alive. Kurt sighed and closed his eyes again.

339 days seems like such a long time, but at least his soulmate was still out there somewhere.


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Whoa! I can't believe how many of you have followed, favorited or commented on this story. I am so glad you are enjoying it. Thank you so so much! :)  
**

* * *

Kurt didn't recover from almost losing his soulmate easily; he developed a bad habit of checking the numbers on his timer obsessively. But the numbers on his wrist stayed strong.

In the days and weeks that followed he was hit with phantom pains from time to time. He knew his soulmate must be recovering from whatever he'd gone through. Still, every time the pain would hit he'd grab for his wrist, heart pounding in his ears until he saw the number confirming his soulmate was alive.

Kurt started to sing to his timer every night. Part of him knew that him talking to his timer couldn't have saved his soulmate's life, but still another part thought that maybe, just _maybe_ his soulmate could feel Kurt pulling for him. And if his soulmate was recovering as Kurt suspected, he just wanted to be able to comfort him somehow.

Kurt curled up on his side under his covers and held his timer close. He closed his eyes as a dull ache started to throb in his temples, he knew it was pain from his soulmate. He sighed and started a song. _"Blackbird singing in the dead of night."_ Kurt sang to his soulmate, wherever he was. _"Take these broken wings and learn to fly. All your life, you were only waiting for this moment to arise."_

* * *

Kurt's Junior year of High School started off normal enough. He was still in Glee club, still getting bullied, still singing to his soulmate, if not every night, most nights. Especially the nights when Kurt had gone through a particularly hard day. Kurt could admit that he did it as much for himself as for his soulmate.

"Maybe someday you'll sing to me." Kurt said to his timer one evening in bed. "Even if you can't carry a tune at all, I won't mind. Well, I might mind. But I could teach you to sing."

Once the days on his timer _finally_ got down to double digits his soulmate was really the only thing Kurt could think about. He knew that his friends must be getting tired of him talking about him all the time, or starring longingly at his timer, but he couldn't make himself care.

"Ew Hummel. Are you going to make out with that thing?" Santana asked at Glee club once when Kurt was caught looking at his timer and day-dreaming about his soulmate.

"You're one to talk." He said as Brittany walked up and sat in Santana's lap and the girls started making out. Both Brittany and Santana's timers had been blank since Kurt met them. Apparently they counted down and started beeping at recess when the girls were 11.

Kurt knew that, as much as he had a one track mind these days, he couldn't possibly be as annoying and Rachel and Finn. They went on and _on_ about the joys of being with your one true love. Though secretly he was happy for them.

Everything in his life was going fairly well, bullying excluded, when tragedy struck again. Kurt was sitting in French class one afternoon, not paying much attention; he was acing this class, when something big enough happened to make him stop thinking about his soulmate.

He was looking down and tracing the number 36 on his wrist when Mr. Schue and Ms. Pillsbury walked into the class. Kurt knew something was wrong just looking at their faces.

"Kurt. Could we talk to you outside?"

The doctor said his dad had a heart-attack brought on by an arrhythmia. Kurt didn't really understand or hear the rest. All he knew was that his dad was in a coma, and he might not wake up.

"Please dad, just squeeze my hand." All thoughts of his soulmate fled Kurt's mind as his dad laid motionless on the hospital bed.

"I'm right here, just squeeze my hand." His dad didn't move.

Glee club tried to be there for him, but mostly Kurt just felt preached too. Carole, his dad's girlfriend, was there for him as well, looking out for Kurt while his dad was in the hospital. But Kurt didn't want Carole. He wanted his dad. Kurt would curl up in a chair by his dad's bed and hold his hand, his heart aching and his mind numb. He felt so alone.

Sometimes the feeling of loneliness would ease when he was asleep. Kurt would dream of warm, strong arms holding and comforting him, golden hazel eyes looking at him with love and compassion, and he almost thought he heard a rich tenor voice singing to him at times.

Then he would wake up, and all he could think about was his dad and the steady beeping of the heart monitor near his bed. Kurt glanced down at his wrist. 31 days left.

"I could really use you now." He said to his soulmate.

When Kurt's dad finally woke up Kurt felt like all encompassing weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He would hardly leave his dad's side and became dogmatic about his dad eating healthy and taking it easy. In the span of a year Kurt had almost lost the two people most important to him. He wasn't going to take any chances.

* * *

It was a little under a week before Kurt was going to meet his soulmate and all he wanted was just to be happy and excited, but it was hard.

Things were awkward with the Glee club after his dad's heart attack. Only Mercedes had really been there for him through his dad's coma, and he still didn't really see eye-to-eye with her.

On top of it all, Mr. Schue was having another boys vs. girls tournament. Kurt was stuck with the boys who only wanted to talk about classic rock and drum solos. Plus the bulling was getting worse, one of the jocks, Karofsky, was relentless in his attacks on Kurt.

Every time he got in a fight with a Glee club member or Mr. Schue, or a jock would locker check him Kurt would hold his timer and remind himself of how close he was to meeting his soulmate.

"Only 8 days left."

It became a ritual.

"Only 7 days left."

"Only 5 days left."

"Only 3 days left!"

Once his timer got down to a couple of days the numbers changed from days to hours. Kurt was an anxious, excited mess watching the minutes tick down.

The morning of the day Kurt was going to meet _him_ he was dizzy with excitement. He rushed around the house gathering things for Glee club and getting ready for the day. He made sure he looked amazing and his bedroom floor was littered with disguarded outfits that were "just not right".

"Whoa!" His dad said as Kurt ran around the kitchen making coffee and eating his breakfast on the go. "Slow down kiddo."

"Dad!' Kurt said spinning on his heel to face him."_Today_. I meet him today. After waiting all this time and almost..." Kurt closed his eyes at the painful memory. "Almost losing him last year. Today we finally get to meet!"

"I could come up to school around that time if you want." His dad suggested.

"No dad. Thanks, but I don't think meeting my soulmate with you awkwardly hanging around sounds ideal."

"Who said I'd be awkward?"

Kurt gave his dad a look, who in return just chuckled. "Okay, okay. I get it. Just remember Kurt. You matter. This soulmate of yours, you are meant to be with him, but you don't even know each other yet. Don't throw yourself around like you don't matter."

"_Dad_." Kurt said cheeks coloring, knowing exactly what his dad was talking about.

"I'm just saying..."

"I know! Besides, according to my timer I'm still going to be in school when... when _it happens_. I doubt we'll be jumping each others bones in the hallways of McKinley."

Kurt felt vindicated when his dad choked on his coffee a little.

At school Kurt had to throw himself into planning for the girls vs. boys challenge just to keep himself functioning and not constantly thinking about his soulmate. As it turned out Glee ended up being a huge frustration and distraction.

None of the guys liked his ideas.

"Go see the Garglers." Puck suggested after the guys tore down Kurt's well thought out plans.

"The Warblers." Kurt corrected.

"Whatever. Go see what they're up to. You can wear all the feathers you want. You'll blend right in."

Kurt felt his blood boil, and none of the other guys stood up for him. Once again he realized that he didn't feel like he belonged here.

"Fine." he said. He didn't have the energy to fight anymore. He was so upset that when he stormed out to his car and went home to slip in to a disguise to go infiltrate the Dalton Academy Warblers that he wasn't even thinking about how _today_ was the day he'd meet his soulmate.

It wasn't until he drove up Dalton, a big brick building covered in ivy that his heart started palpitating in his chest. He looked down and his hands were shaking. He thought he might be sick. Why was he so nervous? Then he glanced at his wrist.

Kurt gulped. He had only minutes before he would meet him, _his soulmate_.

It all made since now. He didn't understand how he was meant to meet his soulmate at McKinley anyway, but had accepted it for what it was. Now as he looked out his windshield at Dalton he understood. His soulmate wasn't coming to him; he was going to his soulmate.

Kurt swallowed and closed his eyes, trying to calm himself. He realized it wasn't just _his_ anxiety he was feeling, his soulmate was so nervous Kurt could hardly sit still.

This was it. "Oh my god." Kurt groaned his nerves getting the best of him, he felt frozen to his sit. "Oh my god, oh my god."

He finally had to force himself to move. He checked his hair in the mirror to make sure it was perfect, took in a deep shuttering breath and got out of the car.

The halls of Dalton were packed and noisy. Young men in uniform flooded the school, laughing and talking. Kurt started to just move in the direction everyone else seemed to be going. His soulmate was here, but Kurt had no idea where to go. Following the crowd seem as good of an idea as any.

He started down a sleek staircase and forced himself not to look at his timer. It would happen when it happened.

No, never mind. He couldn't help it. Kurt glanced down at his timer. He was merely moments away from meeting his soulmate.

"This is it." He whispered to himself.

He stood on the staircase as boy after boy ran past him, anyone of these could be his soulmate, how was he supposed to know? Then a dark haired young man hurried past him and stopped at the bottom of the stairs. Kurt could only see part of the boy's profile, but he looked distracted and more than a little nervous, as he worried his bottom lip and looked around with anxious eyes.

Kurt's heart fluttered in his chest. That was him. Kurt knew it; he could feel it all the way down in his bones. He took a deep breath as the last few seconds on his timer ticked down. He walked up behind the boy and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Excuse me, can I ask you a question? I'm new here." Kurt said his heart beating against his rib cage.

He watched the part of the boy's profile that he could see. The boy closed his eyes and a smile formed on his lips. Then he slowly turned around, opening bright golden hazel eyes that sparkled as his smiled at Kurt.

He was breathtaking.

They both blinked at each other for a moment. Kurt couldn't find his voice, but his whole body felt warm and happy and his heart felt like it was expanding.

"My name is Blaine." The boy managed to say in a hushed, awed sounding voice. He held out his hand.

Kurt looked at it for a moment feeling light headed and giddy.

"Kurt." He answered and took the boy's hand.

Electricity sparked under Kurt's skin and for the first time in his life he felt complete, like a puzzle piece fitting just right.

Two timers started to beep.


	5. Chapter 5 - Blaine's story

Blaine had always loved the idea of having a soulmate. When he was very young and his parents first explained the concept his sat quite and listened as a huge grin grew on his face. He was instantly in love with the idea. Except for one thing.

He had to wait until he was 16 to meet his soulmate? That was _forever_.

He took to the idea that his soulmate could hear him and would talk and play with him even though he wasn't around. His parents would smile and let him do it. It wasn't really any different than having an imaginary friend was it?

Blaine never even thought about the fact that his soulmate would be a boy not a girl. He just assumed everyone knew that. He'd talk to his soulmate and call him different names like "Mark" or "Andrew". His dad once asked why he didn't try a "Mary" or an "Anne".

Blaine just scrunched up his little nose. "But those are _girl_ names."

When he was little the kids are school didn't care that he had an imaginary friend whose name changed almost weekly. No one made a big deal about it being a boy, but maybe that was because he was little or because they didn't understand that he was talking about his soulmate.

Things got harder as he got older, some people would tell him it was wrong to pretend his soulmate was a boy, but he would just shrug it off. He knew better.

* * *

Later in life Blaine would make a mental list of the 3 times before he met his soulmate that he knew he was much, much more than just an imaginary friend.

The first time was when Blaine was only 7 years old. He had always been a happy energetic child and one day he just started to feel... sad. He didn't even really understand it and thought he was just getting sick, like the time last year that he had gotten a really, really bad flu.

But it just got worse and worse. His teacher and his parents started to get concerned. He would break down in tears in the middle of class, or wake up late at night sobbing and shaking. He didn't know what was wrong and that scared him.

His parents didn't know what was going on either. Even his older brother Cooper, who Blaine loved more than anyone, couldn't get him to cheer up. I was Cooper who eventually figured it out.

"Do you think it's a soulmate thing?" Cooper asked one day.

His parents looked at each other, they hadn't even considered that.

"What do you mean?" Blaine asked wiping his eyes with the back of his hand and sniffling a little, he was having a rough morning.

"Maybe your soulmate is really sad and that's why you feel this way."

"But he is so young. Usually you don't have that strong of a connection until your older." His mom said.

"Yeah, but Blaine's special." Cooper replied and smiled at this little brother.

"What's wrong with my soulmate?" Blaine asked, concerned and scared as he started crying all over again.

His parents tried to explain things to him and Cooper would even lie in bed with him each night and tell him stories to help him fall asleep. Eventually the grief started to slowly fade; Blaine's natural happiness couldn't stay gone for long.

It made a difference in Blaine though; he was a little more serious, a little more in tune with the emotions of those around him.

"I just want to take care of him." He explained to his mom one day. "The way you take care of me. And Cooper helps me sometimes. I think my soulmate needs someone like that."

"Oh B." His mom had sighed "You will, just give it time."

Blaine hated waiting.

* * *

The second time Blaine was very aware of his soulmate was years later. Blaine was 15 and at a new school. A dance was coming up and Blaine wanted to go.

He was out and proud of who he was. Through the years he had learned that not everyone liked that he knew his soulmate was a boy, that some people were even mean and cruel about it. But he didn't let it bother him.

So when the Sadie Hawkin's dance came around he asked a friend to go with him, just for fun. They were both gay and faithfully waiting for their soulmates, but it would be nice to go to a dance and be able to do all the things other kids his age were doing.

Things didn't turn out well.

While they were waiting in the parking lot for a ride after the dance a bunch of older students came out and started jeering and laughing at them. They had obviously been drinking somehow and things quickly turned violent.

Blaine was terrified as the guys started to get physical, knocking him to the ground and kicking him in the stomach, kneeling down to punch his face.

Blaine tried to see James, desperate to help him, but he couldn't do anything but curl up and try to protect himself from the onslaught of kicks and punches. Pain and fear ricocheting through his body.

Eventually he blacked out.

He had spotty memories between the parking lot and waking up in the hospital, voices shouting, someone crying, and a siren maybe? Mostly it was just pain, lights popping behind his eyes and chest too tight. Though one thing stood out, he could swear he heard someone talking to him, almost yelling at him to not leave.

So he stayed. Somehow.

It turned out that Copper had arrived and his attackers ran off. James was mostly okay, some bruises and cuts, but it seemed that Blaine had gotten the brunt of the assault.

Coop called 911, and they got there just in time. Blaine had stopped breathing, he didn't have a plus. Cooper had been frantic when the EMTs got there; they had to use a defibrillator to get Blaine's heart going. It stopped and started before finally continuing with a regular beat.

Cooper said he was pretty much dead for a few moments there, Coop anxiously laughed it off, joking about how Blaine must have stayed away from the "bright light at the end of the tunnel", but Blaine could tell it had really shaken him.

"We almost lost you." His mom said brushing his curly hair away from his forehead as he lay in the hospital bed.

"Someone wouldn't let me go." Blaine said. "Actually..." He looked at his parents and Cooper's faces. "I think I heard him, my soulmate, talking to me. I think he saved me."

His parents didn't really think that was possible, but Cooper just smiled. "Remind me to thank him when we meet then."

After the attack Blaine had a hard time falling asleep, he would slip into that space between awake and asleep and almost feel like he could hear someone with the most beautiful voice he'd ever heard singing to him, only then would sleep would finally come.

* * *

The last time Blaine really, really felt his soulmate before they met was when his timer said that they had just over a month before they found each other.

In the middle of class at Dalton he was suddenly struck with inexplicable fear and quickly went into a panic attack. His friend and fellow Warbler, Wes, helped him out into the hall and stayed with him until he was aware enough to be lead to the nurse's office.

"Sadie Hawkin's?" Wes asked, mouth tense as his eyes roamed Blaine's face checking to make sure he was okay. Blaine still had nightmares and panick attacks about the Sadie's Hawkin's dance sometimes.

"N-no." Blaine said and shuttered. "It's him."

"Who?" Wes asked a little angrily. "Did someone do something?"

"What? No." Blaine shook his head. "Something is wrong with my soulmate." Blaine breathed deeply and tried not to cry. If he could feel his soulmate's emotions then the opposite was probably true and Blaine wanted to send as much calm and love to his soulmate as he could.

Wes frowned in concern. "He is hurt? Or in danger?"

"I think he's scared. And angry, but mostly scared." Blaine groaned and held his head in his hands. "And there's nothing I can do to help him."

"Maybe there is." Wes said and Blaine looked up in surprise. "You told me once you thought you heard you soulmate talking to you after the dance right?"

Blaine nodded.

"And sometimes when you can't sleep I hear you singing at night, and... well, you're singing with him aren't you?"

Blaine blushed at being found out but nodded again.

"Either you have a very vivid imagination or a really strong connection with your soulmate. If it is the latter maybe he can feel you too."

"I was just thinking that." Blaine admitted. "I was trying to get myself calm for his sake."

Wes smiled. "Well, maybe you could do more than that too."

Just then the nurse came in to declare Blaine alright. She sent Wes back to his classes and gave Blaine the rest of the afternoon off. Blaine spent it in his room sending warm feeling ads thoughts to his soulmate. He held a pillow tightly in his arms and started to speak. He hadn't really spoken outloud to his soulmate since he was little.

"I don't know if you can feel me or hear me." Blaine said. "But this is for you." And he began to sing. _"When you're all alone. Far away from home. There's a gift the angels send when you're alone... At night when I'm alone I lie awake and wonder. Which of them belongs to me, which one I wonder?... Isn't that a wonder? When you're alone, you're not alone, not really alone."_

Blaine kept singing to his soulmate every night and sometimes during the day when his soulmate seemed really sad or scared. This lasted for over a week until one day Blaine was in study hall and he suddenly broke out in a joyful laugh. The librarian hushed him and his friends looked at him like he was going crazy.

"Blaine." Nick hissed. "Are you okay, what the heck man?"

Blaine sighed as he stopped laughing wiping happy tears from his eyes. "He's okay." Blaine answered.

Nick just looked confused.

"Never mind. Sorry." Blaine said and pretended to go back to studying. He couldn't focus on anything though, the relief his soulmate was feeling was immense and it was mixed with Blaine's own relief _for_ his soulmate. Blaine was on cloud nine for days.

Blaine knew that what he had with his soulmate was special. They had a connection stronger than most. And they were going to meet so soon.

* * *

Almost that month Blaine was at Dalton, h had recently been elected the lead singer of the Warblers and was so proud and honored to be chosen for the position. Today however, the Warblers were causing him no little amount of anxiety.

Wes and David had planned an "impromptu" performance and had informed Blaine of it that morning. "This afternoon. 4:00pm!" They had said excitedly. Of course Blaine was singing lead so he had to be there. The problem with that was 4:00pm this afternoon would be mere minutes after his met his soulmate.

Blaine could hardly breathe or think straight how did they expect him to sing?

Still as the time got nearer Blaine headed down with everyone else in the school. All of the boys were excited rushing pass Blaine and clapping him on the back, knowing he was about to sing.

Blaine was jumpy, his nerves all over the place. He felt warm and scared and excited and oh so happy. And maybe a little sick with it all butterflies swooping in his stomach.

He quickly rushed down the spiral staircase, not even really thinking, just moving with the crowd. He stopped at the bottom and bit his lip as he looked down at his timer. He had seconds left; he looked around trying to find a new face in the sea of boys. Where was he?

Then he felt someone tap his shoulder.

A sweet voice spoke up behind him. "Excuse me can I ask you a question? I'm new here."

Blaine's eyes fluttered closed as all his nerves dissipated. It was him. All Blaine felt was peace and happiness as he turned around and looked up into the blue eyes of the most gorgeous guy he'd ever seen. They both stood dumbstruck for a moment.

Blaine found himself talking without even thinking about it. "My name is Blaine." He said his voice barely above a whisper as he held out his hand.

"Kurt." His soulmate answered with a smile that made Blaine want to melt.

They took each other's hands and Blaine had to hold himself back from kissing him then and there as their timers went off.


	6. Announcement

I am writing a couple... a few? One-shots for my Timer verse. You can read them at the following link if you are interested. s/10298941/1/Timer-One-Shots

Much love!


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